Category Archives: Published Stories

Details about stories which I have published, and where they can be found.

Publication Alert! Woo hoo!

I had two short story acceptances in 2022 (out of 100 submissions). The first acceptance, “Blank”, is available from the Dark Recesses website (see my Writing page for a link). The second, “How the Old Ones Saved Christmas”, is available now in the anthology LOLCraft: A Compendium of Eldritch Horror!

You can get to the Amazon page for this fine collection by clicking the picture above.

I’m quite pleased with this story, which features the Old Ones Hastur and Nodens trying to save Christmas after Santa goes insane, for reasons which are revealed in the story. I don’t remember the true origins of the story, but it does feature some of the same characters found in “Night of the Frozen Elf“, even though it’s not a direct sequel or prequel. More of a “sidequel”, if you will. Whatever. The characters are the same. The story is different.

If you go out of your way to purchase the collection, either in paperback or electronic, I really hope you enjoy my story. The other stories are enjoyable, I’m sure (I haven’t read them because I haven’t received my author’s copy yet), but rest assured, my story is quite fun.

‘Tis an eldritch season for Holidailies

Two new stories up

Webzines come and go, and stories published in them can be victims of domain expirations, site collapses, and so on. I’ve rescued two of my old published stories, and I am putting them online for your enjoyment.

The first is “The Unrevealed Tort, Revealed“. This story appears to be about two men, one of whom is on a horse, having an argument over fish. I’m not positive about that, though. You’ll have to read it for yourself. I can tell you, though, that this story has been favorably compared to Terry Pratchett and Monty Python. This story was published in a webzine called Sorcery and Science. The ‘zine is no longer being published, and the domain has expired, but I want this story to live on. So here it is.

The second story I’m putting online is “Who Remembers Molly“. This story was originally published online at The Harrow (a fine horror webzine which has, unfortunately, folded, and the site the victim of hackers), as well as in a collection of retold urban legends called Don’t Turn the Lights On (which you can purchase over at Amazon.com; the profits go to help the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah). Molly has shown up in a few of my stories, and this story is part of a cycle that I’m putting together called The Winds of Patwin County.

So. Enjoy!

Two Things…

First of all, I want to let you all know that my short story, “Trying to Stay Dead”, is now live on Psuedopod. You should check it out here. Enjoy!

Second, it’s that time of year again: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), when tens of thousands of people around the world spend the month frantically scribbling away, trying to get 50,000 words by November 30. And again, I’m one of those people. And again, my wife and I are raising funds for the Office of Letters and Light, a worthy organization that promotes creativity among adults and children via programs like National Novel Writing Month, the Young Writers Program, and so on. If we raise $1000, Jennifer and I promise to do an interpretive dance to “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, with our cats. To donate, go here.

Hm. I think that’s all, for now. Happy Halloween! Etc.!

Ways to Spend Money

I’m hoping that soon I will be able to present blog material that isn’t just self promotion… Unfortunately, for the time being, I seem to be utterly uninspired to blog.

So for now, in lieu of actual content, I present three ways that you can spend money. And, of course, they all have to do with my writing.


The first is The Undead That Saved Christmas, a lovely collection of Christmas tales featuring zombies and including my own story “Night of the Frozen Elf”. Honestly, how can you resist? You can purchase a paperback version here, or the Amazon Kindle version here. All proceeds from the sale of this holiday heart-warmer go to the Hugs Foster Family Agency, a great organization that needs money to purchase gifts for foster children.

The second is Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine: Best of Horror 2, which you can purchase here. This collection happily features my short story “A Most Heinous Man”, which was published in Issue #33 of this magazine.

Finally, there’s the Night of Writing Dangerously, a charity event that benefits the Young Writers Program and is presented by the Office of Letters and Light. Jennifer and I need to raise $300 to attend this event, so any donations you can make to the cause would be greatly appreciated. Plus, you can get jam, jelly, pickles, or even a pair of handknit socks! The Office of Letters and Light is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit organization, so any donations you make are tax-deductible. You can donate with a credit card by clicking here. Donations of cash and checks are also welcome.

So that’s it for now. Go, spend money. And come back here soon. I promise that someday I will have some interesting content for you.

Various Updates

I keep forgetting that I have this blog. Well, no, it’s not that I forget about it; it’s more like, in this world of Twitter and Facebook, it’s much easier to just post 140 characters and forget about it. Blogging seems like so much more work.

So here’s some updates.

First, before I get to the writing updates, here’s an important one: I’m changing domains. I’ve had mossroot.com for over ten years and I’ll feel sad to leave it behind, but underpope.com seems so much more appropriate since I’m “Underpope” everywhere else on the Intertubes. A domain that reflects that just seemed natural. It’s all about growing the brand, you know? So go and change your links, your bookmarks, your feedreaders, etc.

Plus, this clever old-time photograph of the monkey at the typewriter seemed very appropriate for me. After all, it’s a monkey! And it’s typing! How friggin’ cute is that! And since my very own personal slogan is “Code monkey by day, word monkey by night”, the image could not be more fitting.

And now for some writing updates:

Code Monkey! Originally I had planned for this novel to just be a throwaway project for National Novel Writing Month. I had fun writing it, and fun putting it on line, chapter by chapter, for my friends to read. But then enough people (that is, more than one) suggested I actually push forward with it because it apparently has some potential. So I’m in the process of heavily editing it for possible submission to somewhere in the future. And I’m talking some serious edits. I swear, on some pages there is more red ink than black. (This is the reason I took down the original novel online. I could no longer stand the thought of people reading the original crap version.)

Also, My short story, “A Most Heinous Man”, which was published in Issue 33 of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, will be published in their second “Best of Horror” anthology. I don’t have a publication date for it yet, but I will be sure to update here once I find out.
My short story “Night of the Frozen Elf” (available in a slightly typo-ridden version here) will be collected in a new anthology, The Undead that Saved Christmas. You can probably guess from the title that it’s a collection of Christmas-themed zombie stories. All proceeds from this anthology will go to support the Hugs Foster Family Agency. It’s a good cause, so when the book becomes available, please go and buy many, many copies.
And, finally, if you’re thinking about contributing to my speculative fiction webzine, Daikaijuzine, we’re now open for submissions again. It’s a great ‘zine, with great content, if I do say so myself. Check it out and spread the word.

For now, that’s about it. In the future, I plan to actually post more actual content. But, then, I always say that, don’t I?

Night of the Frozen Elf: Reposted

In lieu of actual content, I figured I’d just post a link to a short story of mine that has just been reposted on Tales of the Zombie War.

When I wrote “Night of the Frozen Elf” in 2007, I had originally planned to write a series of twelve short stories, each one a horrific yet comedic take on Christmas. The whole collection would be called A Shinybright Christmas. Sadly, I got as far as this one, and got stuck.

Enjoy!

Publication Alert!

Issue #10 of Shimmer, which includes my short story, “The Bride Price”, is now available. Because it’s the tenth issue, the publishers are celebrating by making the electronic version available for free on their website. Woo hoo! More exposure for my story! (And, I suppose, the other ones as well.) Download the electronic version here. Of course, you can also purchase the print edition from the same page.

issue10cover

An infrequent joy

Today I received the galley copy of the Spring 2009  issue of Shimmer, where my short story, “The Bride Price” will be published. Reviewing galleys of published stories is always a joy, one that I don’t get to experience very often. In this case, they did a great job, and I didn’t encounter a single typo or other error, besides some minor confusion regarding the title. The editor has been a delight to work with, as always. Shimmer is a market I highly recommend to my writer friends. And since their submission process includes an anonymizing procedure, I’m not just saying that to suck up to their editorial staff.

At any rate. Here’s hoping I get to experience that joy more often in 2009. I imagine the process of reviewing galleys will become tedious at some point in my writing career; for now, I’m simply going to enjoy it.